INVESTORS GRABBING LAND FOR TRUCK DEPOTS OUTSIDE CITIES With the U.S. short more than 70,000 truck drivers, real estate investors are locking up land outside cities as the prospect of self-driving trucks comes closer to reality. Embark Trucks, which became a $5-billion public company last November, will launch its fleet of self-driving trucks in 2024...
Tag: march 8 2022
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SPOTLIGHT: INFLATION
TURKEY’S INFLATION RATE TOPS 54 PERCENT In February, prices in Turkey rose at an annual clip of 54.4 percent, the Turkish Statistical Institute reported. The rate is the fastest since March 2002 and edged past the 52.5 percent expected by economists Bloomberg had polled. Food prices skyrocketed 64.5 percent over the last 12 months and...
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CANADA’S CENTRAL BANK RAISES KEY RATE, WARNS HIGHER RATES TO COME
For the first time in three years, the Bank of Canada has raised a key interest rate, bumping its overnight rate by a quarter-point to 0.50 percent. More increases are coming, with the war in Ukraine forcing the bank’s hand to deal with inflation in Canada that the war is causing, the bank warned. TRENDPOST:...
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EUROPE’S INFLATION RATE QUICKENS, WILL ECB RAISE RATES?
The Eurozone’s annual pace of inflation sped to a record 5.8 percent in February, the European Commission’s statistics agency reported, the fourth consecutive month of a record rise. Energy prices were 31.7 percent higher last month than a year earlier, rising faster than the 28 percent posted in January and the highest since at least...
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OPEC+ REFUSES TO PUMP MORE OIL DESPITE SHORTAGE, SOARING PRICES
At its monthly meeting on 3 March, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+), chiefly Russia, declined to raise production beyond established targets despite prices approaching $120 a barrel and a looming global supply crunch. Instead, the group agreed to continue the monthly production boost of 400,000 barrels a day for April....
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TOP 2022 TREND: SELF-SUFFICIENT ECONOMIES: CHINA LEADS THE CHARGE
After two years of COVID-related restrictions and lockdowns, China has been unable to persuade its consumers to start buying again. December’s retail sales gained only 1.7 percent, year on year, the slowest monthly gain since August 2020 and a fraction of the 8 percent growth notched in December 2019. Disposable income among Chinese households grew...
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TOP 2022 TREND: SELF-SUFFICIENT ECONOMIES: BIDEN PUSHING “BUY AMERICAN”
The Biden administration has finalized rules that will require products purchased by the federal government to have 60 percent of their value in components manufactured in the U.S., 65 percent in 2024, and 75 percent in 2029. At a 4 March White House event outlining the rules, Siemens USA CEO Barbara Humpton announced a $54-million...
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WAGE GROWTH SLOWS AS INFLATION SPEEDS UP
U.S. wages rose 5.1 percent in February, year on year, throttling back from January’s 5.5-percent gain, the labor department reported. Wages have increased by 5 percent or more in four of the past five months, The Wall Street Journal noted. In contrast, wages rose an average of 3.2 percent in the two years ending February...
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STRONG FEBRUARY JOB GROWTH SIGNALS POST-COVID LABOR MARKET
U.S. employers added 678,000 workers in February, the largest one-month gain since last August, dropping the unemployment rate to 3.8 percent from 4 percent in January, the labor department reported. The jobless rate is approaching half of the 6.2 percent notched a year ago and is barely a quarter of the COVID War’s peak of...
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HOW MANY TIMES WILL THE FED RAISE RATES? THE BANKSTERS DON’T KNOW
Bank of America and Goldman Sachs maintain their predictions that the U.S. Federal Reserve will boost interest rates up to seven times this year, even though the word on The Street is that because of the economic damage wrought by Russia’s attack on Ukraine—the rate raises will be slowed. The two banks still predict that...